Vehicle dashboard

ABSTRACT

The instrument panel ( 1 ) for a vehicle, comprising at least one liquid crystal display ( 11 ), is characterized in that said display ( 11 ) is of the positive transparent type, and in that its rear face, with respect to the position of the driver, is illuminated by daylight. In particular, it is mounted on the dashboard ( 2 ) projecting therefrom, said rear face being illuminated by the light from the windshield of the vehicle. The instrument panel also comprises a means of illumination for use by night.

[0001] The invention relates to an instrument panel for a vehicle,particularly for a motor vehicle.

[0002] An instrument panel comprises a certain number of indicators:tachometer, gages, odometers or alternatively indicators indicatingparameters regarding the status of the vehicle or the engine. This listis not exhaustive.

[0003] According to the prior art, the indicators usually involvepointers. They have movements for driving the pointers past screensmarked with other indications on a front face of the support. All ofthis is located behind a nonreflective protective screen fixed to acovering case known as the flange.

[0004] This type of instrument panel occupies a certain amount of space.To solve this problem, the applicant company has already, in its Frenchpatent application published under No. 2 779 682, proposed a solutionfor a flat instrument panel. This instrument panel has indicators withpointers arranged directly against the front face of the instrumentpanel, behind the latter. Thanks to this arrangement it is possible toproduce a very flat instrument panel that can easily be sited inside thecabin. In particular, it can be taken out of the dashboard.

[0005] There now exist instrument panels the indicators of which areliquid crystal displays. Such displays are well known as is their use inthe automotive field. These may be dot or matrix displays, of themonochrome or color type. The instrument panel is then embedded in thedashboard.

[0006] The applicant company set itself the task of producing aninstrument panel comprising at least one liquid crystal display and thestructure of which was as light as possible.

[0007] It also set itself the task of producing an instrument panel thestructure of which offered the possibility of creating novel estheticforms.

[0008] It achieved this, according to the invention, with an instrumentpanel characterized in that the display was of the positive transparenttype, and the rear face of which was illuminated, at least partially, bydaylight.

[0009] Transparent displays are well known per se. They can be found inthe field of horology, for example, for producing dials in clocks orother office requisites. The indications are marked in black on the dialwhich is made of transparent glass. The rear face is illuminated byambient light. However, hitherto, as far as the Applicant Company isaware, such devices have found no application in the field of motorvehicles.

[0010] According to a preferred embodiment, the instrument panel ismounted projecting from the dashboard and in such a way that its rearface with respect to the driver is illuminated by ambient light. Inparticular, the rear face is illuminated by the light from thewindshield. This type of display, thanks to its slenderness and itstransparency, makes it possible to produce an instrument panel that isparticularly light, visually unobtrusive, and offers a novel surroundfor the creation of esthetic shapes.

[0011] According to another feature, the display device is associatedwith a light guide allowing the indicators to be made visible by nightor when the ambient lighting, particularly external lighting, isinsufficient. This light guide preferably takes the form of a sheet oftransparent plastic such as PMMA, which is an abbreviation forpolymethyl methacrylate acrylonitrile. The sheet is then placed againstthe rear face of the display device, the surround of which also acts asa support for it. Part of its rear face is curved toward the display sothat the light emitted by an external light source and arrangedlaterally with respect to the display is at least partially reflected inits direction. This curved part is preferably covered with a reflectivemeans. The latter is chosen so as not to form a barrier to the lightcoming in from behind the sheet. Advantageously, a translucent whitemarking is used.

[0012] Other features will become apparent from reading the descriptionwhich follows of one embodiment of the invention, with reference to theattached drawings in which:

[0013]FIG. 1 is a front view of the instrument panel according to theinvention,

[0014]FIG. 2 is a view in section on AA of the instrument panel of FIG.1.

[0015]FIG. 2 depicts schematically and in part section the instrumentpanel (1), the outline of the dashboard (2) on which it is mounted, andpart of the windshield (3) of the vehicle. The steering wheel is on theright with respect to the figure; it is not depicted. The instrumentpanel (1) is a thin component, in this instance flat, emerging from anopening (21) made in the dashboard (2). In this embodiment, theinstrument panel is secured to a housing (4) housed inside the dashboardand comprising the instrument panel control means in particular. To theright of the housing with respect to the figure there are indicatorlamps (5), for example flashing ones, that cannot be displayed on theliquid crystal display means. The driver sees the lamps through anopening (23). This opening is surmounted by a hood (25) providingprotection against any stray light.

[0016] The instrument panel comprises a surround (13) with a firsthousing for a liquid crystal display device (11). The surround ismanufactured, for example, in a plastic of which the face seen on thedriver's side is preferably black and grained. The surround is arrangedso that it projects with respect to the dashboard, that is to say thatit makes a significant angle therewith. The device (11) can be seenthrough suitable openings formed in the surround (13).

[0017] The device (11) is of the liquid crystal display type known perse. It comprises various information zones. For example, as can be seenin FIG. 1 and the left-hand part of the instrument panel, this may bethe tachometer, the odometer, the fuel gage and the radiator watertemperature gage.

[0018] It is of the positive transparent type. In order for theinformation appearing in the indicated zones to be visible withsufficient contrast, steps are taken to ensure that its rear face, theface facing away from the driver, is sufficiently illuminated. The rearface receives external light directly from the windshield (3) of thevehicle. For that to happen, it needs to be far enough clear of thedashboard.

[0019] The instrument panel comprises a sheet (15) forming a support forthe display (11), which is pressed against the rear face of the latterand is fixed to the surround (13) in a second housing. The plastic ofthe sheet is translucent. It may preferably be PMMA but any othermaterial that satisfactorily transmits light to the rear face of thedisplay is also suitable.

[0020] In this embodiment, the support (15) is flat. It thus acts as alight guide for light originating from some source other than ambientlight. For this purpose on its outer face it comprises a surface portion(16) curved toward information zones of the display device (11) andtreated so as to reflect light. In the embodiment depicted, the sheet(15) has been hollowed out in its part facing the information zones ofthe display. The closed end of the hollowed-out part has the desiredconvex curved shape. A light source (41) is placed at the base of thesheet (15) in the casing (4). An LED is suited to this use. When thediode is powered, it illuminates the surface portion (16) through thesheet. The light is thus reflected partly toward the display. In orderto improve the diffusion of light, diffusing white marking is provided.Any other equivalent treatment is appropriate provided of course that itdoes not form a mask against the light coming from the windshield. Blackmarking (17) is also provided on the zones that do not face the display,so as to avoid stray illumination.

[0021] The instrument panel works as follows. During the day, the lightfrom the windshield is sufficient to illuminate the display. When theexternal light dims, the driver switches on the instrument panelillumination switch and the light emitted by the LED takes over.

1. An instrument panel for a vehicle, comprising at least one positivetransparent type liquid crystal display comprising information zones andneutral zones, the display being backed up against a transparent supporton the information zones; wherein a rear face of the display, withrespect to a position of a driver, is illuminated by daylight.
 2. Theinstrument panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the display is mountedon a dashboard projecting therefrom, said rear face being illuminated bylight from a windshield of the vehicle.
 3. The instrument panel asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the display comprises a means forilluminating the display by night.
 4. The instrument panel as claimed inclaim 3, wherein the illuminating means comprises the transparentsupport which acts as a light guide.
 5. The instrument panel as claimedin claim 4 wherein the illuminating means further comprises a lightsource placed outside the instrument panel laterally with respect to thedisplay.
 6. The instrument panel as claimed in claim 4, wherein thetransparent support comprises, on a face of the support opposite to thedisplay, a means for reflecting light originating from the light source.7. (Cancelled)
 8. The instrument panel as claimed in claim 6, whereinthe transparent support comprises a surface portion curved toward thedisplay.
 9. The instrument panel as claimed in claim 8, wherein thesurface portion is treated with a reflective means.
 10. The instrumentpanel as claimed in claim 9, wherein the surface portion of the rearface of the transparent support that does not face the information zonesof the display is treated with black.
 11. The instrument panel asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the display is mounted in a surround ofwhich the surface in the driver's sight is of a dark color.
 12. Aninstrument panel for a vehicle, comprising: at least one positivetransparent type liquid crystal display comprising information zones andneutral zones, a rear face of the display, with respect to a position ofa driver, configured to be illuminated by daylight; and an LEDconfigured to illuminate the display.
 13. The instrument panel of claim12, wherein the display is configured to project from a dashboard of thevehicle such that the display may be illuminated by daylight enteringthe vehicle through a windshield of the vehicle.
 14. The instrumentpanel of claim 12, wherein the display is configured such that lightreflected from the light source s configured to illuminate the display.15. The instrument panel of claim 12, further comprising a transparentsupport configured such that daylight passes through the transparentsupport before illuminating the display.
 16. The instrument panel ofclaim 15, wherein the transparent support is configured to reflect lightfrom the LED to the display.
 17. The instrument panel of claim 15,wherein the transparent support comprises a surface portion curvedtoward the display.
 18. The instrument panel of claim 15, wherein thetransparent support is configured to reduce an amount of stray lightpassing to an information zone of the display.
 19. An instrument panelfor a vehicle, comprising: a means for displaying data; and a means forilluminating the means for displaying data using daylight, the means forilluminating the means for displaying data using daylight comprising ameans for supporting the means for supplying data.
 20. The instrumentpanel of claim 19, further comprising a means for illuminating the meansfor displaying data at night.
 21. The instrument panel of claim 19,further comprising a means for transferring illumination from the meansfor illuminating the means for displaying data at night to the means fordisplaying data.
 22. The instrument panel of claim 21, furthercomprising a means for reducing an amount of stray illumination from themeans for illuminating the means for displaying data at night arrivingat an information zone of the means for displaying data.